Paramount gets adventurous with pitch

8:00 PM PST 11/16/2009
by
Steven Zeitchik
,
AP

Jim Field Smith to co-write script with George Kay

Paramount is getting adventurous with Jim Field Smith and George Kay.

The studio has bought a family-oriented adventure-comedy pitch from the director of the upcoming DreamWorks romcom "She's Out of My League" and the writer of the top script on this year's British Black List.

The logline is being kept under wraps, but those familiar with the project describe it as a fantasy-tinged four-quadrant comedy in the vein of "Night at the Museum." Field Smith is on board to direct from a script he will write with Kay. No producer is attached.

The WME- and Underground-repped Field Smith and Kay are teaming up to direct and write, respectively, "Good Luck Anthony Belcher," a British indie whose script recently topped the Brit List, that country's version of the Black List.

Field Smith's "League," which he wrote with "Meatballs" scribe Sean Anders, is set to be released next year by DreamWorks. That project was shepherded by Adam Goodman, the DreamWorks veteran who now runs Paramount.

The sale of Field Smith and Kay's pitch continues a trend for potential four-quadrant projects that contain comedy and heart, a category partly pioneered by "Museum" at Fox and also epitomized by the feel-good film "Everybody Loves Whales" at Warners.

Paramount has in development a number of projects with child-adult crossover potential, including a remake of the young-adult hit "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH."